Edinburgh man sentenced for threatening to kill neighbour’s family and pets over ‘noisy chickens’

A DELIVERY driver who lost the plot after his neighbour’s chickens kept waking him up early in the morning has been sentenced.

Steven Ramage confronted neighbour Caroline Boyle about her feathered pets’ 5am clucking and ended up threatening to kill her family.

Ramage demanded the pet owner do something about the early morning squawking and that he would harm her family and pets if she failed to do so.

Miss Boyle was left terrified by Ramage’s outburst and after speaking to a neighbour about the incident she called in the police.

Ramage was found guilty after trial of behaving in a threatening and abusive manner. Pic: Shutterstock

Ramage, from Craigentinny in Edinburgh, denied making the threats but was found guilty following a trial at the Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

The 34-year-old returned to court for sentencing on Wednesday, and Sheriff Robert Fife told him he had been involved in “a nasty incident”.

Ramage was ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Sheriff Fife said: “I am going to make a community payback order as a direct alternative to a custodial sentence. In my view this was a nasty incident.

“There will be a review in eight weeks time and (in the meantime) there must be no more offending.”

Previously the court heard evidence from Miss Boyle, 60, who has two pet chickens housed in a wooden and wire coop in the front garden of her flat.

She said she was watching TV when Ramage appeared at her door at around 3pm on July 19 last year.

She said Ramage shouted and swore at her and demanded she do something about the early morning bird noise.

Miss Boyle said Ramage threatened to kill her family and her pets after she refused to get rid of her two feathered friends.

She said: “He verbally abused me and said he was going to kill my family and my pets.

“He said he couldn’t get to sleep at nights and he was very angry.”

She said the tirade continued out into the street and ended with Ramage shouting, “If I lose another night’s sleep due to those f*** ing chickens I am going to kill them”.

Neighbour Clare Kelly, 27, also told the court she witnessed Ramage’s outburst and heard him “threatening to Caroline, her family and her chickens”.

Ramage told the court the chickens woke him up around 5am and he decided to visit Miss Boyle’s flat to complain after his previous calls to the local authority and the Scottish SPCA failed to stop the bird noise.

He said he was frustrated rather than angry, and denied saying anything about killing her chickens or family.

Following the trial, Sheriff Fife said he had “no doubt in my mind whatsoever the offence in the charge was committed” and found Ramage guilty.

Sheriff Fife added: “Miss Boyle was a reliable and credible witness and Ms Kelly was a credible and reliable witness and in my view she was an impressive and objective witness.

“I did not believe the accused. His evidence left more questions unanswered than answered and I am in no doubt he lost his temper and shouted and swore at Miss Boyle and made the threats to kill.”

Ramage was found guilty of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by shouting, swearing and uttering threats of violence at Loganlea Place, Edinburgh, on July 19, 2018.

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